Numerical Modeling of Friction Stir Welding: A Comparison of Alegra and Forge3

• Main Author: Oliphant, Alma H.
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2004
• Subjects: ALEGRA; Forge3; Friction Stir Welding; Numerical Modeling; Sandia; Transvalor; hydrocode; Modeling; Modelling; boundary condition; Mechanical Engineering
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/26; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&context=etd

The objective of this research was to evaluate the capabilities of ALEGRA, a Sandia National Labs hydrocode, and Forge3, a Transvalor S.A. product, to accurately model the Friction Stir Welding Process. ALEGRA and Forge3 are discussed in light of the inherent challenges of modeling Friction Stir Welding, and a rotational boundary condition is added to ALEGRA. Results are presented from Friction Stir Welding modeling outputs from both ALEGRA and Forge3. ALEGRA is shown to be incapable of modeling the Friction Stir Welding process, in large part due to its focus on shock propagation, which causes extremely small time steps. Forge3 is shown capable of modeling of the FSW plunge process in a transient manner, but overestimates the temperature profiles 90% to 100% in comparison to experimentally measured values. It appears that the adiabatic boundary condition is the source of much of the error. It is recommended that future work focus on improving estimates of the boundary conditions utilized in the Forge3 model.